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Opinion Contributor

Patent trolls are draining our innovation economy

Few companies have the resources to fight a patent case through a trial and appeals. | iStock

The effect of patent trolls is real — in 2011, companies made $29 billion in direct payouts to patent trolls. And the overall cost to the economy has been estimated at about $80 billion per year. Every dollar spent fighting or paying off a troll is a dollar not spent on launching new products and creating jobs.

This harm does not merely exist in the abstract. When Lodsys accused mobile app developers of patent infringement based on technology that allowed for in-app purchases and upgrades, many developers simply removed their products from U.S. stores. Many others paid up, afraid to face litigation. And while consumers miss out on new products, entrepreneurs deal with the stress and expense of lawsuits.

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The problem is getting worse every year. In the past decade, troll litigation has increased tenfold to the point where troll suits now make up a majority of all patent cases, which is why the upcoming House Judiciary Committee hearing is so important. Additionally, some in Congress have already come up with a promising fix: the Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes Act, introduced last week by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). This “fee-shifting” bill would make it so that patent trolls pay the legal fees if a patent in a lawsuit is invalid or if there’s no actual infringement.

This act is a simple, important change that would help deter patent trolls from bringing egregious lawsuits upon businesses and innovators. And not only would it deter trolls from bringing suits, but it would embolden the trolls’ targets to fight back, making life harder for trolls and easier for those who find themselves facing troll litigation.

The patent troll problem is a large one, and there is no one easy cure-all. We’re encouraged to see the House take up the issue, and we urge support of legislative answers like the SHIELD Act. And we’re not alone. Since last week, more than 10,000 people have emailed their members of Congress about the patent troll problem — and as more Americans learn the facts behind this shameful abuse of the patent system, even more will join them.

Julie Samuels is a staff attorney and the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.